BULLETIN 



OF 



THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS 



NO. 196 



FOUR TIMES A MONTH 



GENERAL SERIES 21 



AUGUST 22, 1911 



THE EXPERIENCES OF SELF-SUPPORTING STUDENTS 
IN THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS 




PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN, TEXAS 

Entered as second-class mail matter at the postoffice at Austin, Texas 

ttwiograph 




PUBLICATIONS 




OF THE 




UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS 



Board of Editors— Killis Campbell, Editor-in-Chief; Eugene C. Barker, 
Manager; Robert A. Law N. L. Goodrich, F. W. Simonds, A. C. Scott, John 
A. Lomax, James J. Terrill, C. S. Potts, E. E. Rail. 

The publications of the University of Texas are issued four times a month. 
They are arranged in the following series: Record, Mineral Survey, Gen- 
eral, Humanistic, Medical, Scientific, Reprint, University Extension, 
Official, Pbess. For postal purposes they are numbered consecutively as 
Bulletins without regard to the arrangement in series. With the exception of 
the special numbers any Bulletin will be sent to citizens of Texas free on re* 
quest. Communications from other institutions in reference to exchange 
of publications should be addressed to the University of Texas Library. 

The University of Texas Recobd has been issued from two to four times 
a year since December, 1898, and is now in its 10th volume. Its purpose it 
to preserve a record of the life and progress of the University, and for 
that reason it is of special interest to alumni, ex-students, and friends of 
the University. Upon request it will be regularly mailed, free, to any citl- 
sen of Texas. Address The Univebsity of Texas Record, Austin, Texas. 

The bulletins of the Univebsity Extension and Official series, consist- 
ing of Announcements of Courses, Catalogues, Regents' Reports, and ad- 
ministrative matter, will be mailed free to any one upon request. 

The University still has for distribution copies of the following bulletins: 

General Series 

4. Courses of Study in Law Pursued in the University of Texas, by J. C. 
Townes, 16 pp. March, 1904. 

7. The Consolidation of Rural Schools, by Una Bedichek and G. T. Basket*, 
New edition, enlarged by A. C. Ellis. 85 p., lllus. November, 1907. 
25 cents. 
11. What Should be Done by Universities to Foster the Professional Edifi- 
cation of Teachers? by W. S. Sutton. 24 p. 1905. 15 cents. 

16. 14. Study in School Supervision, by Carl Hartman. 180 p. 1907. 50 cents. 

17. Religious Activities at the University of Texas. 63 p., lllus. August, 1906. 

Humanistic Sebies 

I. The Grotesque in the Poetry of Robert Browning, by Lily B. Campbell. 

41 p. April, 1907. 25 cents, 
i. The Beginnings of Texas, by R. C. Clark. 94 p., map. December, 1907. 

75 cents. 

(Continued on inside bach cover) 



268-8l1-5m-6*98. 



BULLETIN 



OF 



THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS 



NO. 196 



FOUR TIMES A MONTH 



GENERAL SERIES 21 



AUGUST 22, 1911 



THE EXPERIENCES OF SELF-SUPPORTING STUDENTS 
IN THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS 




PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN, TEXAS 



Entered as second class mail matter at the postoffice at Austin, Texas 



v> N 



V 



Cultivated mind is the guardian 
genius of democracy. ... It is 
the only dictator that freemen ac- 
knowledge and the only security that 
freemen desire. 

President Mirabeau B. Lamar. 



L 



i. m or 



;b tc 



THE EXPERIENCES OF SELF-SUPPORTING STUDENTS 
IN THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS 

INTRODUCTION 

Two out of every five students in the University of Texas sup- 
port themselves either wholly or in part. During the past ses- 
sion over six hundred students kept themselves in the University 
by their own efforts. An overwhelming majority of the students 
in the University are poor. A few students are from wealthy 
homes, some are children of people in comfortable circumstances, 
but many are poor, and some are very poor. Numbers maintain 
themselves by arduous outside labor and heroic efforts. 

The twenty self-told stories that follow are printed precisely 
as they were written by students who have met and solved by 
their own efforts the financial problem of securing a University 
education. They are submitted with no editorial excisions or 
additions. Indeed, none such are needful. The stories speak 
for themselves. In order, however, to understand the purport 
of this publication and to make clear the basis of the statements 
there is printed herewith a copy of the letter which was sent to 
each person whose statement is printed: 

"The University of Texas is planning to issue a bulletin con- 
taining the experiences of students who have made or are mak- 
ing their way through the University by their own efforts. This 
bulletin is to be distributed for two purposes: first, to show 
wealthy men the good that can be done by establishing a loan 
fund for aiding worthy students; second, to encourage boys 
and girls who are struggling to obtain an education. 

' ' I shall be grateful for the story of your University life, par- 
ticularly the account of how you met its financial problems. I 
should like also some reference to the work you are now doing, 
and to the ways in which the University has proven helpful to 
you. ' The story can be so written that your identity need not be 
disclosed." 

As stated in the letter, two main purposes were in mind in 
issuing this bulletin. In the first place, it was thought that a 
detailed account from students who have themselves been sue- 



4 The University of Texas Bulletin 

eessful in obtaining a University training-, despite a slender 
purse, would contain many practical hints of great value to 
other students similarly situated. The numerous suggestions 
contained in the letters bear out this conclusion. At the same 
time, the stories of personal sacrifices, of great difficulties, met 
with patience and courage, will, surely inspire many a boy and 
girl in Texas, who lives perhaps in the back country, to believe 
that the door of hope is not shut for them, and that a University 
education is not merely a dream. In the second place, it is hoped 
that ultimately the stories will make an irresistible appeal to 
men of wealth to establish in the University of Texas a large 
loan fund, which, wisely administered, may make a University 
training possible to hundreds and hundreds of boys and girls. 
As the writer of one of the stories remarks : "I shall be pleased 
if, after reading my experience, some girl may take heart to 
follow out her ambition, or someone with money will seize the 
nearest opportunity to give such an ambition a fair chance, not 
as a matter of charity, but as a business investment with sure 
returns, — of money if you like, but most surely of gratification 
at having helped someone in a healthy, practical way." 

Such large Universities of the north and east as Michigan, 
Wisconsin, Cornell, Yale, Harvard, and Princeton, all have loan 
funds to render assistance to all worthy cases of students who, 
through financial misfortune are unable to secure University 
training, and whose ambitions and mental and moral qualities 
fit them for the highest development. Even some of the much 
poorer Universities of the south have such funds. The Alumni 
of the University of Alabama have raised a fund of $15,000 
which is loaned to needy students. The University of North 
Carolina has more than $30,000 devoted to the same purpose, 
and the University of Georgia has a fund of more than $150,000, 
the gift of the late Senator Joseph E. Brown, the interest of 
which is devoted to loans to students. Each student is given 
five years from the close of the collegiate year in which the loan 
is made to pay back the money. .The payments, both principal 
and interest, are added to the fund, and only the interest there- 
from is used. In this way the fund is all the time growing. 

A few months ago, when some mention was made in the public 
press of a student loan fund for the University of Texas, a 



Experiences of Self -Supporting Students 5 

Dallas banker proposed to give $1,000 to start such a fund for 
the colleges of Texas. In a private conversation he expressed 
his belief that he could get one thousand other Texans to join 
him in this generous offer. The interest on one million dollars 
could be wisely used by the University of Texas in aiding stu- 
dents of keen mental caliber to obtain a University training, 
who, perhaps, otherwise would go through life without it. Such 
students would be unwilling to accept gifts, but to many of 
them even a small loan would mean the realization of cherished 
dreams and hopes. Surely the establishment of such a loan fund 
must meet with generous favor from benevolent men of means 
who themselves have reached success through overcoming great 
difficulties. 

The letters which are printed were not secured without diffi- 
culty, and in most cases a very natural reticence has caused the 
writer to omit many interesting details which might have been 
helpful. A similar reticence has caused others to decline to 
write stories about themselves into which, try as hard as they 
might to prevent it, the note of heroism would creep. The ex- 
periences, notwithstanding, are fairly typical of all those that 
might have been told. The presence of such men and women as 
have written these stories, as a writer of one of them remarked, 
has helped to keep the University of Texas "essentially demo- 
cratic, ' ' — an institution where ' ' a man is taken on his merits and 
not on his blue blood or bullion. ' ' 



EXPERIENCES OF SELF-SUPPORTING STUDENTS 

A GENIUS OF LILLIPUTIAN FINANCE 

I spent many years in planning and longing to go to the Uni- 
versity, when in reality I could have accomplished my desire 
much sooner than I did, if I had only had the courage. -As it 
was, I worked with inadequate preparation, was unhappy be- 
cause I keenly felt my inefficiency and my lack of growth. So 
at last, in despair, I attended the University Summer School; 
while there I resolved to make one grand effort for, at least, one 
year at the University. After that one year, I was determined 
to stay another, and then with graduation in sight, at the end of 
the third year, I somehow managed to stay till the end. 

How I did it? In the usual way, I suppose, by most careful 
managing, by borrowing money, by coaching, by denying myself 
all luxuries and some necessities. Unfortunately, I did not 
keep an exact account of my finances, and my statements will 
therefore not be of much value. After one year at the Woman's 
Building, two other girls and myself went in for light-house- 
keeping. We rented two rooms; one was unusually large and 
well-lighted. We dispensed with all half-way . unnecessary fur- 
niture, in order not to seem crowded. With a large closet for a 
pantry, a dry-goods box covered with oil-cloth for a kitchen table, 
a screen for a dividing wall, and a little two burner oil stove, 
our kitchenette was quite complete. Our one table served alter- 
nately for study and dining table. 

In arranging our work we soon found that there may some- 
times be method in madness, but it certainly is madness to work 
without method. So we followed a plan which I shall describe, as 
it proved very successfulin saving work and friction. I may add, 
I have since tried the plan in a household of seven and I can 
guarantee it as "ball-bearing." With the help of our schedule 
cards we settled what meals each one was to prepare during the 
week, and then we took turns in being housekeeper. The duties 
of this important office were the following : to buy and keep an 
account of all the provisions and plan all the menus. So, for 



Experiences of Self-S-upporting Students . 7 

instance, if one of the others was housekeeper, and I, having a 
free period before lunch time, would come home and find in 
a certain place the menu carefully written out with such in- 
formation and such suggestions as the housekeeper had thought 
necessary or helpful, I would find all the materials on hand and 
would have no other responsibility but to prepare and serve what 
had been ordered. If I found any. supplies running low I re- 
ported to the housekeeper, who would look over materials and 
remnants and then plan the next meal. I regret now that we 
did not keep our menus, for they were well planned from a 
hygienic standpoint; we never allowed our meals to consist of 
crackers and pickles or the like. I think it would be a fine task 
for some teacher of domestic science to compile a cook-book for 
light-housekeeping which would combine a minimum of expense, 
of time, and of physical energy, with a maximum in the variety, 
wholesomeness, and palatableness of its dishes. If anyone should 
undertake this task, I would be glad to contribute my share of 
practically tested dishes, that are easily prepared, dainty, and 
yet nourishing. 

One of our temporary family was a genius of lilliputian 
finances. We learned from her ; and though I have no exact ac- 
count of our menage, I recall that our total living expenses, in- 
eluding rent, never exceeded $13.00 per month, and was often 
less. I do not believe, however, that with the present increase 
in prices, expenses could be k3pt quite as low as that. 

One thing I would advise every girl who is forced to borrow 
money, and that is to take out a life insurance policy, even if it 
is only sufficient to cover the debt. At least the thought that 
those who so unselfishly helped me with the money they had 
saved as painfully as ever I had done it, should not go unrepaid, 
whatever might happen to me, gave me much peace of mind; 
and that is a very necessary asset for successful work. And the 
greatest danger against which the girl must guard who under- 
takes to go through the University on a limited amount, is not 
the work, not the lack of freedom which such a life naturally 
entails, nor the actual privations but it is the worry and fear 
of that uncertain tomorrow. But there is no need of that; a 
little trust and a little faith do wonders. 



DURING FIVE UNIVERSITY YEARS SPENT ONE HUNDRED 
DOLLARS WHICH HE DID NOT EARN 

I entered the University in 1897 and remained in that insti- 
tution practically five years. In the period of my attendance, I 
spent about $100 which I did not earn. For four years I found 
an excellent home with a member of the faculty. I did work 
about his home for board and room ; and, in all that time, I was 
regarded as a member of the family and treated with the greatest 
courtesy. 

During my first year I did some odd jobs of collecting and 
soliciting advertising for expense money. The second year of 
my attendance, I did work in the " Co-op." The third year, 
I graded papers at a few cents apiece. The fourth and fifth 
years, I was student assistant. 

Through all this time I was able to carry my courses with 
some satisfaction. I also found time to do some athletics and 
was able to enjoy the social life of the University. I belonged 
to a fraternity and took active part in a literary society, besides 
at one time editing the Magazine and serving on the Cactus 
board. 

In my time, a student was not expected to spend much money 
in the enjoyment of social affairs. One did not hesitate to take 
a girl to a dance in the humble street car. Also, a small amount 
sufficed for dress. Around Commencement time many "long 
tails" were rented, but few were owned. 

I am glad to say that the school was essentially democratic. A 
man was taken on his merits and not on his blue blood or bul- 
lion. Of course, there were many wants that I was unable to 
satisfy, many pleasures that I had to forego — and many sacri- 
fices that I had to make. 

Does the effort pay ? Is the game worth the candle ? I believe 
that any one who has tried it must answer in the affirmative. 
Even the hardships endured and the self-denial practiced has 
value as a training. One is better fitted for practical life if one 
has practice in practical life. The pleasure and profit derived 
from completing the course of study prescribed for a degree 
represent a stock of experiences and a development of power 



Experiences of 8 elf -Supporting Students 9 

that I have found not only useful but absolutely necessary in 
getting on in the world. 

A phase of University life which the student ought to stress 
and one too often neglected by the student who is dependent 
upon his own resources is the social opportunity offered by the 
school. I do not mean social in the limited sense of dances, 
campus promenades, and hand-holding contests ; but I mean mix- 
ing with your fellows, getting in sympathy with them and ex- 
changing views with them, forming strong friendships and mak- 
ing congenial companions. Therein lies one of the greatest pos- 
sibilities for growth. This social field, if the proper advantage 
is taken of it, is worth more to the student than a very great deal 
of book learning. I am not crying down books; I think the 
study of books and the study of man should be correlated. 
Learn to mix ! The man who can not mix with his fellows is not 
likely to be worth much to his community. If the University 
trained man does not serve the community, the State has little 
justification for maintaining the institution. 

I think my greatest single pleasure secured through university 
attendance is the thought that in every town of any size in 
this state is some congenial spirit whose ideals are akin to my 
own and that we developed these ideals together as students of 
the old U. of T. 



ENTERED THE UNIVERSITY WITHOUT A DOLLAR 

I entered the University of Texas in September, 1897, without 
a dollar of my own, so far as I can remember. My father's ill 
health had made it impossible for me to expect help from him 
beyond my High School course, and although I had for some 
time had hopes of some day entering college, they were of the 
vaguest sort, when one day in the spring of 1897 President Wins- 
ton, in a talk before our school, told of the opportunity to pay 
expenses at college while at college by various kinds of work. 
He closed his remarks by saying very emphatically that no one 
need stay away from the University of Texas because of lack of 
funds. 

Taking him at his word, on the advice of my parents, I wrote 
to the President to inquire what he could do for me. The mat- 
ter was turned over to J. A. Lomax, at that time Registrar, who 
finally wrote me of a place where I could pay for my room and 
board by taking charge of some horses and cows and doing odd 
chores for an elderly woman living on the outskirts of town. 
I had never milked a cow, but in the two or three days before I 
had to start for Austin I learned how. 

To provide for my matriculation fee and library deposit and 
to buy the necessary books and other equipment, I borrowed 
forty dollars from an uncle. That is all the money I can remem- 
ber having that year. 

The following summer I remained in Austin in order to re- 
tain my position, though I did not earn any cash. 

Upon returning after the Christmas vacation in my Sophomore 
year, I learned to my dismay that my place had been given to a 
nephew of my employer, but through Mr. Lomax I found similar 
employment at a better place. There I remained until the end 
of my Senior year. During my sophomore year I received from 
home about thirty dollars, enough for necessary expenses. The 
succeeding summer I earned no money, I think, but was at no 
expense. 

During my Junior year, besides my regular employment, 1 
did some tutoring, which brought in a little cash to meet my 



Experiences of 8 elf -Supporting Students 11 

actual needs. That summer I earned some money cutting weeds 
on the campus and later got a job in a planing mill. 

My Senior year brought me more tutoring. I also acted as 
clerk in the Co-operative Bookstore. At the end of the year I 
was awarded a fellowship, so that I was able to give up the 
work that I had been doing for my room and hoard. This fel- 
lowship paid all my expenses during my year of postgraduate 
work. 

During all this time of course I had to practice the strictest 
economy, but I had managed to be very comfortable without 
getting over a hundred dollars from outside sources. Besides, 
my outside duties, though they kept me from taking part in 
athletics, did not interfere with my studies, for when a chapter 
of Phi Beta Kappa was installed three years after I left the Uni- 
versity, I was elected a member. As an undergraduate I some- 
times regretted that lack of funds prevented my having much 
share in the social life of the students. Among other things, I 
felt unable to accept an invitation to join a fraternity until my 
postgraduate year. Yet I did have my friends, and I do not think 
T became a mere grind. 

. Since leaving the University of Texas, I have had three years 
of study at Harvard, obtaining the degree of Ph. D., and I 
now am Assistant Professor at one of the foremost universities 
in the east. 

No doubt other boys with some special equipment for earning 
money could have had an easier time in college than I had, but I 
do not regret the rather severe training that I had in those days, 
and I shall ever feel grateful to my Alma Mater for opening up 
for me the way to an education. It is needless to add that I 
have proven for myself the truth of Dr. Winston's words. 



A HOME WITH A GOOD FAMILY 

Two years ago I came to the University with very little money, 
and not knowing any one here. But I found a home with a 
good family, where, while attending the University, I could earn 
my board and a small amount of money. This method of work- 
ing while pursuing my studies was not a new experience to me, 
because I had been doing this for four years, while in the High 
School. 

My earnings for these six years have been about one hundred 
dollars a year. This amount, in addition to my board, has been 
sufficient to meet all of my expenses. I will give a table to show 
how I have used this income each year: 

Matriculation fee and books $35.00 

Clothing and incidentals 35.00 

Laundry 20.00 

Church purposes 10.00 



$100.00 



Possibly the amount spent for clothing will present a problem 
to some minds. But I must say, that while this small amount of 
money has been all that I have had to spend on clothes, it does 
not cover the value of everything I have had, for I have always 
had generous friends who have presented me with gifts that 
have been most helpful. Without these gifts there have been 
times when I must have fallen into extreme need, and probably 
would have been compelled to have remained out of school. 

As to the work I do to earn my wages, I have always done 
house work. I have no business education, and thus far there 
has been nothing else open to me. I spend on an average of six 
hours a day. This amount of work, with four courses, keeps 
me very busy, so I have no time to take part in the pleasures 
of college life, except those pleasures which come through my 
studies. Then, taking only four courses each year, I must at- 
tend the Summer School, so that I may get my degree in four 
years. After Summer School, I must work hard every day until 



Experiences of Self-Supporting Students 13 

the opening of the fall term in order to have funds for matric- 
ulation fees, so I have no vacation. 

You may ask, is the sacrifice worth while? Does it pay to do 
all of this hard work in order to have so few pleasures and so 
few of the good things of life? I can answer that the sacrifice 
is more than worth while. The gratification from knowing that 
I am really earning an education is worth more than the effort 
to get this education. And then I have the greater satisfaction 
cf knowing that I am each day increasing my capacity for use- 
fulness to humanity, and at the same time I see more and more 
of the need of humanity for educated men and women. The 
contact that I have had with the splendid men and women of 
this University has given me a greater desire for service, has 
broadened my sympathies, and has helped me to decide the 
kind of work that I may do the most successfully. 



WAITED ON THE TABLE AND RANG THE BELLS 

When I graduated from the High School, in 1905, I had fully 
made up my mind to attend the State University, though I had 
no idea how it was to be done. Since I could receive no money 
from home, I wrote early in the summer to Mr. Williams, Regis- 
trar of the University, and to Mrs. Kirby, Dean of Women, 
asking if they knew of any work I might get. Both referred 
me to Mrs. Carothers, Director of the Woman's Building. After 
much correspondence with Mrs. Carothers in regard to work, I 
was put on the waiting list for dining-room service at the Wo- 
man 's Building, though without any hope whatever that I would 
secure it. 

I went ahead with my preparations without any assurance 
whatever that I would have work when I reached Austin. A 
friend wrote to me, late in the summer, that she'd be glad for 
me to stay with her until I found something to do. Just before 
I left Houston, I worked in a book store during the "school 
rush," and made enough money to pay my fare to Austin. I 
left for Austin the latter part of matriculation week, still un- 
certain whether I could stay or not. The day after I arrived 
in Austin, Mrs. Carothers telephoned me to come to see her, 
that one of the girls who was to have had dining-room service 
had been unable to come. I secured the work, and the next day 
began my new work. I served two tables, with ten girls at each 
table, bringing in all the food, replenishing the dishes and re- 
moving the dishes to a side table. In addition to serving the 
tables, I was given charge of ringing all bells — meals, rising, 
retiring, etc. — and also of closing the doors at meal time. 

Mrs. Carothers and Miss Moore, the Business Manager, were 
both most kind and considerate to the four of us thus employed, 
and the girls, with but few exceptions, showed us every consid- 
eration. In fact, we gained a popularity all out of proportion 
to what we deserved. The work was tiring, and sometimes ter- 
ribly monotonous, but most of the time I was sincerely grateful 
that I had such an opportunity of making my University course 
possible. 



Experiences of Self -Supporting Students 15 

In return for my services I was given my room and board. 
My sister sent me five dollars a month, which I spent for wash- 
ing, books, church, etc. 

I carried on a full University course, took part in several of 
the University organizations — Y. W. C. A., "Woman's Council, 
Athletic Association, etc. — held office in these societies, besides 
having a good time always. 

I continued this work for three years, and then only because 
I wanted more time and energy to devote to my work as Presi- 
dent of the Y. "W. C. A., I applied for a scholarship and se- 
cured it. My one regret is that I did not complete my course 
by my own efforts. I really enjoyed the work, and gained an 
experience in it that has been most helpful. 

I have been a Secretary of the Young Women's Christian 
Association for the last two years, and my three years' work, 
serving tables, was excellent preparation for my present work 
with the girls and young women. 

I am more and more convinced that any girl or boy who really 
wants an education can get it, and get it without losing any of 
the essential benefits and pleasures of the college course. 



EARNING CAPACITY INCREASED 400 PER CENT IN SIX YEARS 

Feeling that a statement from a student who has just fin- 
ished at the University of Texas, with respect to expenses and 
benefits of schooling, will be of interest to students who are con- 
templating entering the University, upon request, I am giving 
a brief account of my three years' and two summers' stay in 
the University. 

In the year 1904 I finished at a preparatory school which was 
affiliated with the University. The following year I taught 
school in a rural community at a salary of $55 per month. I 
attended the Summer School at the University the following 
summer, 1905. The School Board and the people of the com- 
munity where I taught, appreciating my effort in better pre- 
paring myself for the duties of the school, increased my salary 
to $65. By the close of school I had paid back what I owed for 
my schooling in the preparatory school and had about $100 to 
the good. On this a younger brother and I came to the Summer 
School at the University in 1906. 

In the fall of 1906, my father went security, and I borrowed 
$100 from a friend and entered the University My brother 
had secured a school, and footed the rest of my bill for 1907, 
which amounted to $175. In 1908 I taught as high school prin- 
cipal in a town of over 5,000 inhabitants at a salary of $90 per 
month. My brother continued to go to summer schools, as I 
returned what I borrowed when I was in the University in 1907. 
In 1909 I accepted a position as instructor in a high school in a 
town of 15,000 inhabitants at a salary of $1,000 per annum, and 
sent two brothers to the University. 

The wheel of fortune turned in 1910, and my brothers sent 
me to the University during the years of 1910 and 1911. I have 
been elected to the superintendency of the city schools of a town 
of 3,000 or 4,000 inhabitants at a salary of $1,500 per annum. 
Within six years my earning capacity has increased four hun- 
dred per cent, and the increase may be attributed largely to my 
training in the University. In proportion to the amount of Uni- 
versity work taken, the increase in salary of my younger 
brother, who is also a teacher, has been greater. I feel more 



Experiences of Self -Supporting Students 17 

grateful for other benefits derived from my University training 
than I do for the improvement in my salary. 

A word with respect to expenses will likely be of great inter- 
est to the young man or young lady who promises himself a 
University education. As stated above; my expenses the first 
year I came to the University were about $275, which may be ac- 
counted for as follows' : Railroad fare, $15 ; board and room 
rent, $120; matriculation fee, $50 (this is more than the aver- 
age student pays, since I took Chemistry, which has a labora- 
tory fee of $11 or $13) ; laundry, $10; books, $50, and clothing, 
$30. My expenses the second and third years were somewhat 
greater, due partially to the increase in price of board and gen- 
eral expenses. However, my expenses the second year did not 
run over $300, and the third year over $325. During these two 
years I could have spent less, but did not feel the need of so 
close economy as was necessary during my first year in the Uni- 
versity. 

From these few statements it can be readily seen that at- 
tending the University is a paying proposition which an able- 
bodied, ambitious young man, or young woman, can not afford 
to overlook. Now and then a sacrifice has to be made, and pleas- 
ures that other young people are enjoying have to be foregone, 
but, in the end, one reflects with pleasure upon the sacrifices 
made and pleasures foregone. 



A GIRIi FROM AWAY BACK IN THE COUNTRY 

I am writing this piece of personal history, not because it 
contains any great amount of interest for people in general, but 
because it may be an inspiration for some young woman who 
may chance to read it — and she may be induced to step out and 
try a similar plan for herself. Therefore, prosaic though it be, 
it will be, nevertheless, a true story from first to last. 

I was born and grew up like many another healthy young- 
ster, with no marked precocity. Because there were no good 
schools near by, the children of the family were taken to a vil- 
lage in the county, and placed in what was then the best private 
school in that part of the State. I was then eight years of age, 
and this trip of sixteen miles in wagons across the snow one 
January day was my first glimpse of the outside world. I re- 
call vividly now the impressions that came to me that first night 
and during the first days. There were in the family two older 
sisters and a brother, and four or five cousins and half -uncles. 
I had heard them discuss the wonders of this new world before 
we made the move. We had a play-house in the barn. It was 
in this barn that the marvelous stories were told, and plans 
were amde for what we meant to do and to be when once we 
were there. I remember that I would dig my toes in the ground, 
standing ready to swing, but listening open-eyed, and then let 
myself go high in the air, dreaming of the great future. So, 
the village, quaint and quiet, except for the school, was to my 
youthful imagination a part of Paradise. 

"We lived in this village and attended this school for three 
years. My mother died the first year, and a married sister came 
to take charge of the household, which was co-operative in its 
nature, every member of the family having his share of the 
daily tasks. The school was a good one, not only for its time, 
but judged even now by modern standards. It knew little of 
the principles of pedagogy, and had meagre equipment in library 
and laboratory, but for a period of a quarter of a century, un- 
der the influence of its one principal, it had the power to trans- 
form the lives of hundreds of crude country boys and girls. 
What was taught was well taught, and the men and women who 



Experiences of Self -Supporting Students 19 

went from the school are known today in places of great re- 
sponsibility. But the facts learned were a small part of that 
school's work. Somehow, . under the inspiration of that prin- 
cipal and the assistants whom he had the wisdom to employ, the 
school had a spirit akin to that of Eugby. 

And so my story is more than half told. When once the 
mind is awake and the soul is stirred, there is something within 
that bids us neither stand nor sit, but go ! 

After this I had two years in school nearer my home. When 
I was fifteen I was offered a position as assistant in a school, 
and in my ignorance as to its responsibilities I accepted. I liked 
the experience, and decided that I had found my calling. The 
way opened for me to attend a normal, and in one year I was 
graduated — full fledged, with a permanent certificate. (I 
count this year as one of the best of my life, because of the in- 
fluence of one teacher there, and for this I can pardon the ab- 
surdity of permanent certificate.) 

The five years following this graduation I taught in the pub- 
lic schools — five busy and happy, but hungry and unsatisfied 
years. During these years I had the joy of waking up other 
boys and girls, and during these years at night I had my first 
opportunity to read good books. 

And then the way opened for me to go to the University. I 
had saved what I thought was enough money to put me through, 
and though some people thought I "knew enough," I dared to 
lay down my work and go. I have never regretted it for one 
day, in spite of the sacrifice, hardship and anxiety when funds 
began to fail. I had the foolish idea that I must get my de- 
gree before I stopped. And I did. Now, I should say go as 
long as you can with health and comfort — physical and mental 
— and then, if yau can not make your way, teach and go again. 
You will be the better for the discipline, perhaps, and the Uni- 
versity the richer for your maturity. 

But, a teacher may ask, why set the University as my goal? 
"If I have a good position, and have managed by great priva- 
tion to go through a normal school, am I not entitled to rest a 
while and let well enough alone?" Let me answer that no 
University claims to be the final goal. Take your respite, teach 
with all your might with the best light that you have. But go 



20 The University of Texas Bulletin 

up for some summer session. You will catch the spirit ; you 
will soon see that you need the University, and if you have in you 
the right fire, your University needs you. Then if you are too 
timid to give up your position, ask your board for a leave of 
absence and go back as you can and take your degree. 

But my heart turns to the girl away back in the country, to 
the girl who has felt her soul stir within her, but has curbed 
every hope because she thinks herself shut within walls that can 
not be broken down. Don 't believe it. Keep the fire alive. Let 
the University know who you are and what you want, and if 
you cry loud enough and long enough — and mean it, some one 
will come to your rescue. Take my word for it. 



BOARD AND LODGING AT NINE DOLLARS A MONTH 

I entered the University of Texas in 1900 and graduated in 
1904. During the first year I greatly reduced my expenses by 
becoming a member of a boarding club. This organization con- 
sisted of seventeen boys who rented a house and hired a cook. 
The care of the rooms, service at the table, purchase of sup- 
plies, etc., was done by the boys themselves. We paid $15.00 
per month for a cook and $35.00 per month for a house. All ex- 
penses for board and lodging amounted to about $9.00 per 
month for each boy. 

During the next two years, 1901-2 and 1902-3, I lived in a 
private home and did chores for my board and lodging. My work 
consisted of the care of a cow, two horses, a yard and a small 
garden. The family was very congenial, and the two years 
were spent very pleasantly. The most serious difficulty found 
with this plan was that the work was very irregular. My duties 
would be light for a time, then suddenly become very heavy, 
requiring on some days from four to six hours of my time. This 
tended to interfere with my studies. 

During my senior year I worked in a dairy. I milked ten 
cows twice a day, beginning at 5 o'clock in the morning and at 
5 o'clock in the afternoon. Each milking required about one 
hour and fifteen minutes of my time. All told, I did not lose 
more than three hours a day, including the dressing and bath- 
ing incident to the work. The work was outdoors. It came 
with absolute regularity, and was therefore very wholesome. I 
found this plan the most satisfactory of any that I tried during 
my Univeristy course. 

If I had not used these opportunities for self-help I should 
probably have not completed the University course. To meet the 
other demands of the work I borrowed money at the rate of ten 
per cent per annum. I borrowed about $600.00, but since I be- 
gan early iu my course it amounted to more than $1000.00 before 
I could repay it. 

I could have left the University with but slight debt if I had 
surrendered the social advantages offered by the University 
community. I cultivated the society and friendship of my col- 



22 The University of Texas Bulletin 

lege mates of both sexes. Excepting the demand upon my time 
there was no social disadvantage because of my work. The 
democracy of the University is of such a rugged and pronounced 
type that the fact that a boy is working his way through school 
operates for rather than against him in a social way. 

feJ... ;.i . i 



WALKED TEN MILES A DAY "RAIN OR SHINE" 

Born, 1870, Southern Sweden. Parents of peasant class. 
Father had good ordinary education, considered liberal and pro- 
gressive. Mother could read, but not write. Youngest of fam- 
ily of eight. Father suffered financial reverses and family came 
to America in 1882. Father and brothers worked in factories 
at days' labor. Being youngest, I went to school for nearly 
two years, during which I skipped through first, third, fourth, 
fifth and sixth grades. At this juncture quit school, 1884, got- 
work in woolen mills at 50 cents per day. In my ' ' adolescent 
ferment" I determined to become a missionary. Quit work in 
September, 1886, and got a job to "do chores" for my board 
and went back to public school. I was placed in ninth (high- 
est sub-high school grade), but in January, 1887, a conference 
of principal and superintendent sent me to high school, where 
objections to my irregular entrance were reluctantly withdrawn 
upon the superintendent's insistence. The "chores" were 
plenty. The next year I got a job to "carry papers," earning 
about $2.00 to $2.50 per week, and I came home to live. The 
route gave me about ten miles ' walk a day, rain or shine. Two 
feet of snow and twenty below zero were not unusual. (During 
that first winter I did my chores one morning with 35 below.) 
But this exercise kept me alive, for I studied at a fearful 
rate, doing almost double the work of the others, so that in 
June, 1889, I graduated, having finished in two and a half 
years a full four years' course, with a year of advanced algebra 
and two years of Greek extra. My average was 97%. The 
next year I taught in a country school, six months, at $40.00 
per month. Then I was book agent a couple of months. All 
this time I had taught in Sunday school and had my missionary 
ambition to light the way. I was offered work in the Utah Mis- 
sion of the M. E. Church. So I went West, taught a mission 
school one year and the public school in a Mormon community 
the next. By this time I was beginning to feel that I must go 
back to school. I decided on the University of Denver asjje 
proper place, and entered in September, 1892. To make my 
way, I, with another young man, was janitor in the college 



24 The University of Texas Bulletin 

building. We received a room and $25 a month between us. 
During two vacations I traveled in the school supply business. 
I had the janitor work three years, and borrowed the money for 
my Senior year, so that I might take college life a little easier. 
This I now regard as a serious mistake. It would have been 
better if I had worked this year also, so that I might have gone 
out into the world free of debt. This was in 1896, when times 
were very hard, and I failed to secure a place to teach. I did 
have an opportunity to go to a mining town to preach. It was 
a hard proposition, so I had to give it up in December, and I 
finally secured a little country school at $45 per month. The 
next summer it was still more difficult to get a school, and I 
finally agreed to remain another year at this place. A family 
living four miles from the school house gave me my board for 
driving to school with the children. The salary was also aug- 
mented by private subscription. However, unpleasantness 
arose, and I determined to go to Texas, whither, in the mean- 
while, my father and mother had moved. The} 7- needed me, be- 
ing about seventy years of age and practically alone. I came 
to Texas in November, 1898, and taught in a litle country school 
near our home four years. At the close of my third year I 
attended a summer normal at Port Lavaca, where I became 
acquainted with Dr. W. H. Bruce, the conductor of the normal. 
Mr. J. "W. Smith, who had attended the University summer 
school two years, also taught here. I secured my permanent 
certificate by examination, though I could have gotten it on my 
college diploma. On the advice of Mr. Smith, I determined 
to go to the University of Texas for my master's degree. I 
worked my way through as fellow and later tutor in education. 
After staying at the University three years, I secured a fellow- 
ship in Teachers' College. During my second winter in New 
York I taught in the city public evening school the subject of 
English to foreigners, thereby making about $300 at $8.00 a 
night. 



COACHED AND DID OFFICE WORK 

In 1906 the State of Texas 7 in consideration of three years' 
work done in one of her Normal Schools, granted me a license, 
in the form of a permanent certificate, to prey npon the inno- 
cents attending her public schools, as well as the right to de- 
mand fabulous sums of money from unsuspecting school boards. 
Unlike (?) other Normal graduates, I considered myself edu- 
cated in the broadest sense of the term. Visions of the early 
recognition of my superior talents with all the substantial re- 
wards accruing therefrom passed in panorama .before my enthu- 
siastic eyes. After due consideration of the field likely in need 
of my skilled services, I decided to accord the West that dis- 
tinction. 

My mother, it is true, desired me to come to the University 
of Texas as soon as I had finished at the Normal; but I could 
not bear the idea of seeing so many of Texas' young hopefuls 
grow up in ignorance for the lack of competent instruction. Be- 
sides, what need had I, a Normal graduate, to attend the Uni- 
versity? What could the University teach me? 

For three years the West had the opportunity to number me 
among her educators. During my first year out there I had a 
severe attack of the West Texas land fever. What a fortune I 
might make if I would only "get in on the ground floor" by 
investing my fabulous salary! To allay the fever and to get 
some peace from the annoyance of real-estate agents, I at last 
consented to invest in some town lots. Later on I bought a half 
section of school land from the state, which was said to have been 
"lived out;" and judging from the dead conditions of things in 
that part of the state ever since, I think that it has truly been 
"lived out" for good and all. During this first year I had suc- 
ceeded in "getting in on the ground floor" sufficiently to take 
all the salary I could earn for the next two years to enable me 
to rise from my lowly position. At last, in June, 1909, I "came 
out of the West. ' ' I was now the owner of something over $2000 
worth of land, and the possessor of a $200 bank account. And 
all this had taken place in just three years— just three years 
from the date of my triumphal exit from the Normal! Had I 



26 The University of Texas Bulletin 

taught the world any lesson in this period of time? Had the 
world taught me anything? 

In September, 1908, my brother entered the University of 
Texas. His descriptions of the glories of University life some- 
how appealed to me now. My mother still seconded all his at- 
tempts to get me to give up my "profession" and attend the 
University. Eventually they prevailed on me to enter school 
the following year. Therefore, in September, 1909, I, a Normal 
graduate and erstwhile "professor," entered the University as 
a lowly freshman. After paying my fees, I had $135 with which 
to defray my expenses. By way of supplementing my funds I 
secured several office odd jobs, as well as other jobs here and 
there. By these means I was able to complete my freshman year, 
and had enough money including my library refund to pay my 
way home in June. 

In September, 1910, I returned to the University. Having had 
some interest on land notes to pay off as well as other outside 
expenses, I had just enough to pay my matriculation fees. I 
was fortunate enough to get a place advertising for a large 
boarding house and attending to the business down town for 
the lady in charge of it. For this service I received my board 
free. By a mere chance I got a place in one of the University 
offices that paid me $15 per month. During the year I coached 
freshmen, when not busy with my office work or studies. For 
awhile I taught in one of the preparatory schools of the city. 
By teaching and coaching I made something over $100. From 
several other little jobs I made about $25 more, thus making 
the total of my years' earnings $230 besides my board. 

For the coming year, 1911-12, I have a little better place in 
the same office in which I worked last year. I intend to coach 
again this year when I am not too busy with my school and office 
duties. 



THREE STORIES CONTAINING MUCH IN LITTLE 

Entered the University of Texas a freshman 1905 ; graduated 
with B. A. in 1908. 

First two years' expenses, met by my father, amounted to 
$350.00 yearly, including Summer Schools. 

Third year I borrowed $100.00 from the bank, $25.00 from 
the Sidney Lanier Society, and earned my board and room rent 
at the Woman's Building ($144.00) by doing office work there. 

Next year's expenses were fully met by the income derived 
from a Fellowship in the Department of Education ($200.00) 
and work done in the Woman's Building ($144.00) — dining 
room service and regulation of lights and bells. 

During the past two years, since leaving the University, I 

have taught (as assistant history teacher) in the High 

School, where I am planning to be again next school year. 

I began work in the University of Texas in 1899. I was then 
out a year teaching a country school to secure funds in order to 
re-enter. This I did in 1901. During the major part of that 
year I worked for my room and board with a private family, 
caring for a lawn, a horse and buggy, and other miscellaneous 
matters. During the third year of my work I waited on tables 
in Brackenridge Hall. During the last year I was a clerk in the 
bookstore. Altogether I was in debt about $300 when I received 
my degree. This was paid by teaching two years after securing 
the degree, and enough was saved in addition to pay my ex- 
penses in a graduate institution for six months. By the end of 
this time I was assured of a fellowship in the institution for the 
succeeding year. The fellowship did not meet all expenses. 
The remaining funds were borrowed from a student's loan fund 
in the graduate institution. After two years and a half of grad- 
uate work, a position was secured as assistant editor of a finan- 
cial weekly. Work was continued there until all debts were paid. 
This work was dropped because it was impairing my health, 
and, after a year's work in the examination of the finances of 



28 The University of Texas Bulletin 

one of the largest cities in the country, I became assistant pro- 
fessor in a state university. 

In six years of teaching in the public schools I saved enough 
money to cover the expenses of my 'entire University course. 
Economy and ambition were my greatest friends to progress, 
and I believe that the average girl can give herself University 
training if she has the will to work and economize. When I be- 
gan teaching at sixteen my aim was to go to college, and I went. 



A HELPFUL EXPERIENCE 

I am glad to furnish an account of my experiences as a stu- 
dent who had to make her own way through college, in the belief 
that it may help others to decide on such a course. As a result 
of an account of similar cases by President Winston in an ad- 
dress to our High School in 1898, three students registered in 
the following session of the University, making part or all of 
their expenses. 

During my first year in the University, I was fortunate enough 
to secure a home with a family of two, where the services re- 
quired were somewhat those of a companion during the absence 
of the husband, and where the time spent in housework was 
slight. This association resulted in a friendship which I have 
counted among the valuable results of my experiences. During 
the next year I taught, but did not save enough, because of the 
low salary, to carry me through another year. 

When I returned for my Sophomore year, I undertook to get 
through with somewhat the same arrangement, but because of 
the extra time needed for laboratory work and unusual demands 
at home, I found it would be necessary to make a change. The 
Registrar, who was making it a part of his duty to look after 
such cases, made an offer of a loan which would carry me 
through the session. This was repaid next year from my salary 
as a teacher. 

The third year was accomplished on a similar loan, helped out 
by an occasional day's work as a substitute in the city schools. 
In the summer I took the examinations and secured a position in 
the schools for the following year during which I finished my 
course by such University work as would give me a class on 
Saturday. 

From my own experience and from that of friends, I would 
urge, (1) that girls should not undertake outside work, either 
home, school, or clerical, unless they are very strong or are 
willing to spend more than the usual four years in completing 
the course; (2) that unwillingness to borrow the necessary funds 
is an economic mistake, because the impulse to save in order to 
repay a loan is much greater than that to lay aside the same 



30 The University of Texas Bulletin 

amount, and the earning capacity is increased often as much as 
fifty per cent after each year's work; because the loan secures 
relief from worry and the feeling of uncertainty that is a strong 
factor in the accomplishment of mental work ; and because there 
is a certain feeling of independence that is worth in character 
development, more than its cost. 

All these reasons for using a loan will apply with equal force 
to the argument for securing funds for the whole course rather 
than for a year at a time. 



TAUGHT IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 

It is now several years since I first had a taste of University 
life. Prior to that time I had been engaged in teaching, and 
came hither to improve my standing by doing work in the Sum- 
mer Schools. Before many weeks had passed, I had formed a 
definite desire of attending the University during the regular 
session. Yet I could only look to some period in the undeter- 
mined future for its fulfillment, as I had been receiving but 
$45 a month for my services, and was to receive but $50 the 
following year. 

Maintaining myself away from home on that amount, paying 
board, railroad expenses, and contributing to other purposes in- 
cidentally did not promise much in the way of savings for a 
University education. I taught a couple of years more, when, 
my strength failing, I gave up my position. Still the summer's 
rest wrought such results that, obtaining a scholarship in the 
fall, I went to one of the State Normals to study. At the end 
of the session I was fortunate enough to be graduated with 
honors. 

Then, my former position being offered me, I went back to 
teaching. Continuing my same work and being advanced in 
salary a slight amount each year, I attended the Summer 
Schools at intervals, where I gained much inspiration; and, be 
it said, did not accomplish my expiration, as some of my friends 
predicted. 

After three years I secured a leave of absence from my work 
and came to the University for the regular session. This was 
the beginning of the realization of my ambition. At the end of 
the year, however, for consideration other than an advance in 
salary, I returned and taught for two years longer. Steadily, 
though by small amounts at different times, I had been raised 
from $45 to $85 per month. This made my coming to the Uni- 
versity a possibility. It was a long, slow process, it is true; but 
I am at last about to win out. I should also state that through 
the influence of a very helpful instructor, I have also been aided 
by a student assistantship. 



32 The University of Texas Bulletin 

To ambitious students of the State I would say, "Determine 
to come, strive to that end, and your wish will be realized. The 
University is doing a great work in broadening and developing 
the lives of its students. There should be more to receive these 
benefits. Determine to be one of them." 



TALKED AND PLANNED UNTIL HER DESIRE CAME TRUE 

I think that it will be of most benefit to students of slender 
means, who desire a college education, to outline briefly the prac- 
tical and financial side of my University course. 

In the first place, I made up my mind to come to the Uni- 
versity, and then thought and talked and planned until my 
desire actually came true. 

During the first year I spent $225. This included my railroad 
fare from the extreme western part of the state, books, matricu- 
lation fees, and all incidentals. At the beginning of the spring 
term, my room-mate and I found that our allowance was not 
going to hold out, and so we left the dormitory, rented a room, 
and did light housekeeping at a total cost of $9.00 each per 
month. 

Circumstances did not permit my returning to the University 
the next fall, and I took charge of a small subscription school 
in Oklahoma, principally for the sake of the experience. At 
Christmas I wrote to one of my teachers at the University to 
know if there were anything that I could do to help make my 
way. On the ninth of January, she wired back that I could 
get a class in Latin one hour each week at twelve dollars per 
month. With this and forty dollars, which I borrowed, I man- 
aged by dint of a little coaching, to finish out that year and also 
the summer term. The next two years I stayed out of school 
and taught. During this time I repaid the money which I had 
borrowed, and saved over four hundred dollars. 

In the meantime my eyes had grown so bad that I could not 
use them at all. I had almost given up hope of ever being able 
to "finish my University course, when one day I heard the story 
of Prescott, the great blind historian, who secured his entire edu- 
cation by listening while his friends read aloud to him. From 
his inspiring example, I took new courage. I purchased a small 
typewriter, and learned to use it by the touch system. I soon 
made arrangements with girls who happened to be in the same 
classes to read aloud to me, and for two years and a half I car- 
ried on all of my work in this way. I shall certainly never re- 
gret the misfortune which taught me how many kind-hearted 



34 The University of Texas Bulletin 

people there really are in the world, especially in the college 
world. I not only had enough people to read to me, but always 
had more offers than I could accept. In addition to this, all of 
my teachers were extremely considerate in helping me to arrange 
my work and assisting me in every way possible. 

At the beginning of my fourth year, it began to look as if I 
were going to have to give up again on account of financial dif- 
ficulties. But in the darkest hour came an offer of help from 
one of Texas' great and good men — a man who has done more 
perhaps to further the cause of higher education than anyone 
else in Texas. From him I received a regular allowance each 
month as long as I remained in the University. This money is 
to be repaid, with all the interest that I can add, to some other 
girls who need help, thus starting an unending chain of help- 
fulness. 

This year's work was so badly interrupted by bad health that 
I could not quite finish the courses for my degree, and in conse- 
quence, I shall not receive my diploma until this June. 

I have already suggested several ways in which it is possible 
for a student to economize, but I should like to emphasize a few 
practical ways to cut down expenses. If you can't afford to pay 
board, rent a room with a friend, and do light housekeeping. 
It takes a little more time, but it will cut your expenses almost 
in half. You can get second-hand books, or combine with other 
students in the same house and buy your more expensive books 
together. There are innumerable ways in which you can econo- 
mize, and lots of things you can find to do, if you will only keep 
your eyes open. 

There is no reason why any girl or boy in the State of Texas 
should not have a college education, if he wants it badly enough, 
and possesses a definite and clear-cut ambition. From my very 
earliest childhood I have desired intensely to write, and I have 
tried to bend all of my reading and education toward this end. 
My work and associations in the University have been of abso- 
lutely inestimable worth to me in this connection, and, while I 
have as yet nothing to show for my ambition but rejected manu- 
scripts, I am by no means daunted. And when success does 
come my first thought will be that it has reflected perhaps some 
small measure of honor upon my beloved Alma mater. 



SUPPORTED HIMSELF THROUGH EIGHT YEARS OF UNIVER- 
SITY LIFE 

I left a position as drug clerk in the summer of 1901 with 
about $400.00 and went to Austin with the intention of attend- 
ing the University as long as the money lasted. A portion of 
this was spent in preparation for the entrance examinations; 
and I don't think I experienced a prouder moment during my 
University course than when I heard that I had successfully 
passed the entrance requirements. 

By the end of my sophomore year I had entered into the spirit 
of the University sufficiently to realize that I had only gotten a 
taste of a mighty good thing ; and I also realized that my finan- 
cial resources only amounted to a good determination. The suc- 
seeding fall I secured a position as drug clerk with the privilege 
of certain hours off in which to attend the University. Under 
this arrangement I completed the courses necessary to my aca- 
demic degree, won a T in athletics, dabbled in politics to the 
extent of a Senior class presidency and editorship of the Senior 
edition of the Texan, and made good in my corridor course. 

In 1909 I received the degree of Doctor of Medicine from the 
Medical Department of the University. Here I helped to pay 
expenses in the various capacities as drug clerk, collector, and 
stenographer. During the summer of my Junior and Senior 
year I had the good fortune of a position with the State Quar- 
antine Service. 

I am now practicing in Houston, and my wife, who is also a 
graduate of the University, and I are already planning for our 
little daughter to enter the University as soon as she is old 
enough. 

All in all, I think I have a great deal to thank the University 
of Texas for, and I am always ready to do all in my power to 
make some return for the great service it has been to me. 



WON ALUMNI SCHOLARSHIP BY HOME STUDY 

It was early one summer that I made up my mind to try to 
enter the University next fall. As I had only passed the eighth 
grade work when it was necessary for me to drop out of the 
public school, I had to take the entrance examinations. Before 
attempting the examinations, I had to do a hard summer 's study- 
ing. There was algebra and grammar to review, rhetoric and 
plane geometry to study, and general history to finish. This 
work I did by my own unaided efforts, and it was no small task. 
Especially the plane geometry was hard to take up by myself 
and study. "When the time for the fall examinations arrived I 
was in Austin, ready to take them, but at the same time dread- 
ing them, as every poor unfortunate does that has not had a 
high school diploma on which to enter. But I passed the three 
required subjects, history, English, and mathematics, and to 
my great surprise was awarded the Alumni Scholarship because 
I had made the highest general average of any of the contest- 
ants. This scholarship was of material financial aid, as it con- 
sisted of $100.00. "When I first planned to go to the University, 
I could be sure of attending only one year, as that was all my 
parents could promise me at that time. But the scholarship as- 
sured me of another year at the University. 

During my Freshman year, I boarded at Mrs. Kirby's, where 
I waited on the tables. By this means my expenses were re- 
duced to $10 a month, as my work paid for my laundry and part 
of my board. This first year was the hardest of the four, for 
in spite of my hard summer's work, I found that I was not as 
well prepared for the University work as the average high school 
pupil. I had to work diligently to keep up with my class work, 
especially the mathematics. But I passed in all the work that 
year. My expenses for the year were about $145, and the fol- 
lowing estimate is about correct : 



Experiences of Self -Supporting Students 37 

$ 90.00 for board. 

10.00 for matriculation fee. 

10.00 for library and laboratory fees. 

15.00 for books and stationery and other school supplies. 

10.00 for railroad fares to and from Austin. 

5.00 for additional clothes. 

5.00 for the best shows and musical attractions. 



$145.00 total expense. 

Securing the $100 Alumni Scholarship practically assured my 
second year's expenses. This year I secured one of the waiter- 
ships at the Woman's Building, which opened that year (1903). 
In this way I paid for my board, and by doing a little additional 
work also had my room rent remitted. This year my expenses 
were the heaviest, and ran about as follows : 
$ 10.00 for matriculation fee. 

15.00 for library and laboratory fees. 

15.00 for railroad fares. 

20.00 for shoes and other incidental expenses. 

20.00 for books and school supplies. 

30.00 for clothes. 



$110.00 total expense. 

During my Junior year, I again was one of the waiters at the 
Woman's Building, thus paying for my board. During my spare 
time I did some sewing for other girls in the building. Two 
other girls and I rented a sewing machine and divided the ex- 
pense. The machine we had just for the last two terms. During 
this time I cleared about $45. The remainder of the money nec- 
essary for my year's course was supplied from home. The ex- 
penses ran about as follows: 
$ 10.00 for matriculation fee. 

20.00 for laboratory and library fees. 

15.00 for railroad fares. 

20.00 for books and school supplies. 

36.00 for room rent. 

20.00 for clothes. 

10.00 for shoes. 



$131.00 total expense. 



38 The University of Texas Bulletin 

During my Senior year, I again paid for my board at the 
Woman's Building by waiting on the tables. I took my own 
sewing machine with me to the Building, and earned $140 dur- 
ing my spare time, by sewing for other girls. This year I held 
an honorary scholarship in Zoology. This was given because I 
was doing research work in Zoology. It amounted to $100. As 
this was my Senior year, my expenses ran a little higher, amount- 
ing to about $200. This left me a little surplus money at the 
close of the school. This is an estimate of my expenses: 

$ 36.00 for room rent. 

30.00 for books and school supplies. 
20.00 for laboratory and library fees. 
4.00 for tennis courts and tournament. 
15.00 for Sidney Lanier dues (and $10 Senior gift). 
20.00 for Senior expenses, a cap and gown, pin, entertain- 
ments. 
15.00 for railroad fares. 
30.00 for clothes. 
20.00 for shoes, etc. 



$190.00 total expense. 

All through my University course I was economical, but did 
not deny myself pleasures except those that would have inter- 
fered with my work. Every year I saw about half a dozen of 
the best shows, such as Shakespeare's plays, heard Shumann- 
Heink, Thomas' Orchestra, etc. I made special efforts to find 
time for all the strictly University affairs, because I realized 
that football rallies, exhibitions, and the various strictly co-ed. 
entertainments were part of my University course ; and such as 
these I would never again be able to take part in. I took an 
active part in basketball, and especially tennis. 

The University has been helpful to me in many ways. There 
is, of course, the obvious and direct advantage of the actual 
knowledge gained. But that is by no means the only, or even 
the greatest help. The mental training counts for so much. 
This was brought to me very forcibly when I entered the Medical 
Department at Galveston, a year after the completion of my 
academic course. I had been trained to think along scientific 



Experiences of Self -Supporting Students 39 

lines, had learned the general routine of college work, and had 
learned to concentrate my efforts so as to cover the greatest 
amount of work with the least possible expenditure of energy 
and time. This was of incalculable benefit to me in my two 
year's medical work. In the study of medicine at Galveston 
the work is such as to tax the powers of an ordinary student to 
the utmost, for much has to be learned in four years. When 
one is required to be at lectures or laboratory work eight hours 
every day, there is little time left for the very necessary recrea- 
tion, relaxation, physical exercise, and study. There an ordinary 
high school graduate is at a decided disadvantage, and I con- 
sider it a great help that the entrance requirements of the Medi- 
cal Department have been raised so as to require one year of aca- 
demic work first. 

The last, but really the greatest good derived from the Uni- 
versity course, comes to the graduates all through the remainder 
of their lives. Every student has made many and highly con- 
genial friends during those four years, and all through life they 
are met with again. Not only are the old friends a constant 
pleasure, but new acquaintances are so easily formed through 
the magic bonds that draw all alumni or ex-students of the dear 
Alma Mater together, no matter when or where they meet in 
after life. Thus, no matter what part of the State one goes to, 
there are always to be found some old 'Varsity students, and a 
common interest draws people together. 



"RUSTLED BOARDERS" AND DELIVERED PAPERS 

I taught school several years and farmed before coming to 
the University. The first year I did not work any while here to 
help pay my expenses. The nest j^ear I began and have con- 
tinued to do so ever since. I first waited on the table and rustled 
boarders for a Mrs. Bales on San Antonio Street. ' She closed 
down her boarding house and I secured a job collecting for the 
Houston Chronicle. In a few days they put me on as a carrier. 
I worked at this a good long while, — for about two and a third 
years. I met the train at five every morning. Sometimes it 
would not come in at that time, and therefore I took a book along 
and studied while waiting. The train was often an hour, some- 
times two hours late. The exception was when it was on time. 
I had a small cart in which I put the papers and carried them 
to the Chronicle office for the packages there to be broken open 
for the other carriers. There were four routes in the city, from 
one hundred to one hundred and fifty subscribers on a. route. 
We were paid $3.50 per week, besides 10 per cent for collecting 
once a month. Part of the time he had a regular boy for the 
collections, but it was hard to keep one he could rely on, be- 
cause, as a general rule, he had boys who were attending high 
school, or someone who was supporting a widowed mother or 
no-account father, and as a general rule the class was rather low 
and not to be very much depended upon. As a general rule, 
the newspaper man never had any University students as car- 
riers either, because it was work that they knew to be rather 
hard, and if a fellow did not know how to save time and fly 
when it came to delivering papers, he would likely get through 
late for school. I always rode a wheel delivering the papers, 
though some carriers who live here in the city use a pony. I 
could not afford that, and went on my wheel, no matter if it did 
rain. They knew that when I started out the papers would go 
through, if my wheel broke down and I had to walk. That was 
the reason that I held my place so long where other University 
students had failed. As a usual rule they do not want University 
men, because they haven't a pony to use in case of bad weather. 
I made from $16 to $20 per month. I was paid $2.50 a month 



Experiences of 8 'elf 'Supporting Students 41 

for bringing the papers from the depot to the Chronicle office, 
and a commission of two and a half cents for every paper that 
I sold on my rounds on Sunday, as I delivered papers on Sun- 
day. I made no effort to increase this part of my business be- 
cause I wanted to attend Sunday school on Sunday, and taught 
a Sunday school class. 

But I usually made from 75 cents to $1.50 on the evenings 
that I would collect, being paid, as I said before, 10 per cent 
commission. There was a great advantage I had in this kind of 
work, in that it gave me outdoor exercise. It usually took me 
about an hour and a half to deliver the papers on my route, 
barring accidents or rain, but I was an extra good bicycle rider 
and knew my route perfectly. But, you see, I put in more time 
than that, because I had to bring them up from the depot and 
wait for the train, which was so seldom on time. 

That is practically all that I can think of that would be of 
value in describing my newspaper work. I had some expenses 
keeping up my bicycle, because the work was extremely hard on 
a bicycle, riding through mud, etc. 

Then from October till January, 1908-9, I waited on the table 
at B. Hall, and at the same time took up laundry for the Driskill 
Laundry. But in January or February something went wrong, 
and I gave up my waiting job and went back to the carrier job 
which was again open. I still collected laundry, staying at the 
Hall all the while I was delivering papers again. 

The year following I saw that I was going to be up against it 
for various reasons, though I had taught a summer school near 
Bay City; so when I came back the following fall I accepted a 
place drumming boarders for a Mrs. Wheatly, besides working 
again carrying papers. I made something in the paper business, 
and made my board rustling boarders. Of course I had room 
rent to pay, but I got along pretty well that year notwithstand- 
ing. That year I graduated from the Academic Department, and 
in the spring election was elected business manager of the Maga- 
zine. I think if prospects continue good that I will turn over a 
larger surplus to the Student's Association than any one ever 
has. During the year I have also waited on the table at the Hall. 

I have had to work pretty hard on the outside while I have 
been in the University, but I do not think it has hurt me. I 



42 The University of Texas Bulletin 

came here with only seven and a half credits and in five years 
will have received two degrees, a B. A. and LL. B. Two of my 
law courses counted on my academic degree. 

Other boys can do as well as I have done, because I did not 
have very good high school training as a foundation. I have 
had a good deal of church work, Y. M. C. A. work and other out- 
side interests since I have been here, and I really think that it is 
best to be loaded down, — at least for me. 



FROM A FATHERLESS HOME 

As a young girl I grew up with the idea of being a school 
teacher, just like my older sisters. With high school days came 
the desire for a University course as preparation for this life 
work, but because of the lack of funds in our fatherless home, a 
year in the State Normal seemed the only possibility. Through 
the years of teaching which followed, I might possibly have 
saved money for University study, but instead I satisfied a more 
immediate desire by spending my savings on summer trips to 
the eastern part of the country. Yet all the time there was the 
longing for the University study, which I felt was necessary if 
I was to be a high school teacher of the first rank. So after the 
death of our mother and the sale of our old home, with my small 
share — perhaps $1000 — came the realization of this as an op- 
portunity for a University course. As I calculated that this 
amount would not possibly cover my expenses more than the 
next three years, I began my work toward my degree in the 
Summer School preceding my entrance in the fall. By attend- 
ing this and the next Summer School, and by making two 
courses in the time between these and the fall opening follow- 
ing, I had to take only the necessary five and one or two-thirds 
during the three regular years for the total to give me my B. A. 
degree three years after entrance. 

This plan gave me time for doing some outside work towards 
my expenses, though this had not occurred to me as a possibility 
before coming to the University. During the entire first year 
and the fall months of the second year, half of my room and 
board expense was met by helping in the office of the Woman's 
Building, where I boarded the three years of residence at the 
University. Through the fall of this second year I did some 
coaching also. But my class work, this double outside work 
and the other interests of the University life in which I shared 
were more than was best for me physically, so after Christmas 
of my second year I dropped both these efforts towards my ex- 
penses. With the spring, months, however, I was offered some 
clerical work by a friend living near the campus, and as this was 
not so heavy as the other, I was glad for the funds it gave me. 



44 The University of Texas Bulletin 

During my third and senior year I held a scholarship in the 
University which paid within thirty dollars of my year's room 
and board. 

I wish I could have access to my old expense account book to 
say just how much I earned and spent during these three years, 
but out of the $1000 plus the scholarship of some $160, and the 
little earnings I gained my University course and was enabled 
to meet outside debts amounting to at least $200. Of course my 
family from time to time sent me gifts, but I had the responsi- 
bility of food and clothes and keep for the calendar years within 
that limit. 

In many ways it was not easy, but the breadth and depth and 
vision of life that came to me through the cost seems yet full 
worth while. I do not regret for a moment my decision in face 
of the objection of my relatives and friends that with a wage- 
earning position and $1000 as a nest-egg for an income of the 
future, even a University cours-e was not worth the time and 
money. Yet instead of leaving my Alma Mater afraid of the 
future, I went right on the very next fall for another year in 
an out-of-State institution for study along the definite line of 
work that my Universtiy days had caused me to choose. This 
year of advance study was entirely received on a scholarship 
fund and loans from my good brother. So that after four years 
of study, on entering a salaried position again, I faced the fact 
that my financial obligations amounted to some six hundred 
dollars, most of which I have since refunded. 

The opportunities for study in themselves were in these years 
,a joy to me, but the biggest and best part of the whole was the 
vision and purpose for my life work as a leader among young 
women — that I may be the means of showing them that which 
I believe to be true of myself as has been so well stated of himself 
by Dr. Edward Steiner of Grinnell College: "The task is yet 
unfinished, the conflict is still on, and it is my business to in- 
vest my life in such a way as to make true the dream of the Son 
of Man." 



ADVANCEMENT AND GROWTH IN INCOME HAVE FOLLOWED 
LABOR AND SACRIFICE 

I entered the Engineering Department of the University as 
a freshman in the fall of 1892 at the age of seventeen years. I 
graduated with the degree of C. E. in the summer of 1900, 
eight years later, having spent four years of that interval as a 
student at the University. All of the expenses of my Univer- 
sity education, with the exception of about $130, were borne by 
myself. 

During my first year I lived with a relative and did chores 
about the house in return for my board and lodging. My total 
expenditure in money during this year, including two months' 
preparation for entrance examinations, was about $130, one 
hundred of which was borne by my father and the remainder 
by the relative above referred to. The most rigid economy was 
necessary, of course, to keep expenses down to so low a figure. 

After the first year I was out of school four years, the chief 
reason therefor being lack of funds. These years (1893-1897), 
as will be recalled, covered a period of financial depression, 
especially 1893 and 1894. Being untrained in any trade or pro- 
fession, I was obliged to be satisfied with whatever wages I could 
earn, and at times I was glad enough to make a living. A long 
spell of typhoid fever incapacitated me for work during a period 
of six months, and my finances suffered a corresponding set-back. 

I matriculated at the University again in the fall of 1897. 
During the session of '97- '98 I earned my board and lodging by 
doing light chores and tending rooms occupied by boarders. My 
four years ' savings, aggregating $200, was sufficient to cover other 
expenses, close economy being practiced. The first part of this 
year was the most discouraging period experienced during my 
University life. My outside duties were distasteful, I had be- 
come unaccustomed to study, and I had reached the years when 
I felt that I should be earning an income instead of going to 
school. Moreover, I had become somewhat indifferent to higher 
education, not through discouragement, but by reason of con- 
tinued contact with people who greatly underestimated its value. 
But a tenacious nature prevailed, and after a few months it be- 
came clearer that I was on the right track. 



46 The University of Texas Bulletin 

During the vacation following my sophomore year I tried 
very hard to earn something toward the expenses of another 
year ; but it was a dull season and work of any kind difficult to 
find. Late in the summer I got a job, and in the three weeks 
remaining of vacation I earned a little more than enough to pay 
my fare to Austin. 

I landed in Austin with $3.20 in my pocket, all the money that 
I possessed, and without any plan whatever for meeting the 
expenses of further work in the University. But with a confi- 
dence resulting from the optimism of youth combined with the 
experience of previous years I fully expected to continue my 
University studies, and this I did. I visited the home where I 
had lived the year before, and the lady of the house kindly of- 
fered to let me work out my board until I could make permanent 
arrangements. I immediately wrote to a relative asking the 
loan of $50 with interest. Although I was unable to offer security 
for the loan, a check came promptly, and I was in a position to 
matriculate and purchase the necessary books. I then joined 
a student club and remained a member during the year, the cost 
of living being less in the club than in a regular boarding house. 
During the year a small business in handling student supplies 
netted a profit of perhaps fifty dollars. The <^iub paid me a 
small price for chopping the stove wood, and this brought in a 
few dollars, although the work was done principally for exercise. 

Early in April of that year I left the University to accept a 
position on a survey party at $35 per month and subsistence. I 
owed at that time bills aggregating about $40, but these were 
paid by savings from my wages before the end of the session. 

At the beginning of the succeeding fall term I gave up my 
work with the survey party and returned to the University to 
complete my course in civil engineering. Permission was granted 
by the heads of the various schools to take up senior work with 
the understanding that junior work omitted in the spring be 
made up during the year. The savings remaining from my sum- 
mer's wages amounted to a little more than $100. I lived at 
low-rate boarding houses this year, excepting for a month or two, 
when I worked out my board. My business in student supplies, 
continued from the preceding year on a larger scale, netted about 
$100. I also earned something during the year (not a large 



Experiences of Self -Supporting Students 47 

amount) by working a few hours each week in the office of an 
engineer in the city, the hours of work being arranged so as 
not to conflict with my lecture hours at the University. At the 
close of the session I had a few dollars left over. I graduated 
with the degree of Civil Engineer, and being fortunate enough 
to obtain at once a paying position, I was able within a couple 
of months to pay back with interest the fifty dollars borrowed 
two years before, and was then free to follow my chosen line of 
work clear of debt. 

In regard to the benefit derived from my connection with the 
University, it is always difficult to picture "what might have 
been;" and also one is apt not to realize all of the advantages 
that have come to him as the result of higher education. In my 
own case I know that my University training was well worth 
the time, labor, and sacrifice that it cost ; for it equipped me for 
entrance into a remunerative vocation, and through the knowl- 
edge and training acquired in the four years' course I was able 
successfully to compete in a civil service examination and obtain 
an appointment in the technical branch of the Federal service 
immediately upon graduation. Advancement and corresponding 
growth of income have followed, accompanied by the advantages 
of extensive travel. Furthermore, in my own case, which doubt- 
less is typical of others, the years devoted to higher studies stimu- 
lated ambition and developed a self confidence; otherwise, these 
qualities probably would have been wanting to prompt and 
sustain an effort to make the best use of my natural powers. 
Not the least benefit derived from a few years spent as a stu- 
dent at the University is the social pleasure and practical as- 
sistance afforded by the mutual interest of ex-students, many 
of whom are now filling prominent and responsible positions. 

During the last two years of my University work when tempted 
to quit, or when "practical" persons suggested that I was pro- 
longing my school days late into life or that I "knew enough 
already," I strengthened my purpose and met those arguments 
by the answer that while out of the University I made little 
more than a poor living, whereas in it I not only made a better 
living, but was acquiring a valuable education as well. During 
my struggles with financial problems when at the University I 
always received from the officers and faculty of the University 



48 The University of Texas Bulletin 

practical assistance, and this without doubt will be the expe- 
rience of any other student similarly situated. 

That no young man Or young woman of receptive mind who 
possesses the requisite physical and mental strength and has the 
necessary ambition and determination need be deprived of the 
advantages of a University education by reason of financial limi- 
tations, has been repeatedly demonstrated in the past, and I fully 
believe that the result in every case is worth the effort; but the 
unavoidable outside duties and the cramped finances narrow the 
horizon of self-supporting students, and I would offer to students 
the suggestion that they guard as much as possible against nar- 
rowness in the acquisition of their education and in their Univer- 
sity life, and that they endeavor to correct in their subsequent 
life after graduation any such resulting defect. 

The above statement may be too long to suit the purpose for 
which it is designed; if so, it may be condensed. I have been 
interested in going somewhat into details through a recent meet- 
ing of two contemporary alumni who paid their own way and 
are now filling high positions. "We found both pleasure and 
amusement in recalling our struggles of other days. 



A WELL-INA^ESTED LOAN 

The request comes that I tell of my life at the University of 
Texas, what prompted me to go, what the experience has meant 
to me, and how much it cost me in dollars. 

An explanation of why I chose the State University carries me 
back several years before the day of my actual entrance. I was 
reared in a family of teachers, and my own teachers were kin- 
folks who fanned my ambition for learning. At ten years of age, 
too, I was set to tutoring late arrivals into my classes, earning 
thereby a part of my tuition, so that from childhood I looked 
upon the school room as my habitat. It was at this period that 
I learned how to study and decided upon teaching as my pro- 
fession. 

After being graduated, therefore, from this private college, I 
worked for a State certificate in a summer normal and started 
out to teach. My first school was in the country and lasted 
seven months, paying forty dollars per month. Such was my 
distress because not every pupil learned every fact presented 
that I was genuinely surprised when the trustees urged me to 
take the school for another year. As two of them were bachelors, 
who had not been near the school, I thought that they did not 
know what they were doing and declined their proposition, ac- 
cepting a position in another school where there was a principal. 
It is gratifying now, however, to know that as a direct result 
of that first years' failure, two boys from it have attended the 
State University, and other children have continued their educa- 
tion in various schools. 

After the two years' experience in country schools, I entered 
the Senior class at the State Normal in my home' town, waiting 
on a boarding table for the amount of my expenses not covered 
by the appointment. In the spring of this graduation and the 
early summer following, I was urged by friends not to accept 
just any position ; consequently, as fall drew near, I had no place 
to teach, — only good recommendations which could not be cashed. 
My face did not show as many years as did the family Bible 
records under my name, and responsible positions could not be 
trusted to a child. And, moreover, I was not so bold in press- 



50 The University of Texas Bulletin 

ing my claims as my preparation really warranted, because I 
was not sure that, were I a trustee, I should employ me. 

But another school year was at hand, and what should I do? 
I was about to accept a fifty dollar grade position, when the. 
suggestion came — I am not sure from what source — "Go to the 
State University." It happened that friends in whose homes 
I had visited that summer became interested in my ambition and 
offered to lend me money for continuing my education. Against 
my objections that I wished to remain independent, they argued 
that this was the quickest way to become independent, and it 
was to them, aside from their personal interest in me, a business 
proposition, — an opportunity for a good investment. Under the 
circumstances I decided to avail myself of their offer. 

The goal set before me from childhood was Wellesley or Bryn 
Mawr. Some of my teachers in the Normal faculty, two of whom 
were Texas University graduates, had suggested the State Uni- 
versity, as had some other friends; I was urged by a cousin, 
also, who was getting great benefit from his courses at the Uni- 
versity. But, unfortunately, several young men from our town 
had been in the University from time to time, and had gained 
the reputation for "sporting;" this had prejudiced the minds 
of the strictest of our citizens, mistaken, as they were, in their 
argument from effect to cause. But I was a girl, and had in 
mind always this fact, — that I should probably always live in 
Texas, and to live that life successfully I should know Texans. 
Nowhere else could I learn to know Texans of my own age so 
well as at the University of Texas. This line of thought, seconded 
closely by considerations of economy, decided me finally. 

These preliminary facts have been given in detail to show that 
Texas University for me was not an ambition of long standing, 
but that I merely "happened" to choose it; and yet the details 
show as plainly that the choice was not a "happen : so. " At 
least, it is my pleasure to believe that the succession of causes 
and their results points to a force of wider vision than mere 
chance. 

My matriculation week had its ills, as has every one's. I 
was given one less credit than a young man from my class who 
had barely made the normal work. I did not understand how 
to get a chance at advance standing, and in despair registered 
for work that I had studied since infancy, it seemed to me. I 



Experiences of 8 elf -Supporting Students 51 

was rescued by a former schoolmate, a teacher in Austin, who, 
on seeing my registration card, said, "You shall not take that 
work. Gome with me." I went. We visited several of the in- 
structors, who, after hearing my friend's statement of my prepar- 
ation, gave me permission to take sophomore courses on trial. 
This admitted me to sophomore mathematics, German, Greek, 
and Latin. I am now a teacher of Latin and a lover of the 
classics, and yet the selecting of Latin and Greek for my Fresh- 
man year was another happen-so in my University life. I took 
with me to Austin a letter from a former teacher to Dr. Battle, 
who, I was told, was a good adviser. Owing to fear of hurting 
his feelings, I suppose, and to awe in the presence of the pro- 
fessor of Greek, when he asked me if I wanted Greek, I hesitated 
to suggest another subject. In regard to Latin, I explained that 
I had not studied languages for several years and I had decided 
not to undertake Latin and Greek both., "Latin will help you 
with the Greek," he said, setting it down without more ado. 
And finally the week ended. To excuse me for lack of proportion 
in this narrative one needs only to throw himself again into the 
mood of his own first University days and live again , the ma- 
triculating freshman's "endless minutes" as they "slowly 
passed." Nor is the experience of little importance, being, as 
it is, one of the many required courses of the University for 
which no credit is given with grade A or D, but which are in 
the end, perhaps, the most helpful. 

The year was a happy one for me. I learned to outline Sweet- 
ness and Light for Mr. Baskervill, and to classify purpose 
clauses for Miss Lavender; I read Die Hochzeitsreise with Miss 
Andrews, and in the tower-room learned irregular verbs for Dr. 
Penick and Dr. Battle. Then there was ' ' three-deep ' ' with Miss 
Aden and "voice culture" with Mrs. Kirby. I joined the Young 
Women's Christian Association and a Bible class, thereby keep- 
ing a fair balance of interests. Entering with full credits, I had 
towards my degree at the end of the year, as I recall it, ten and 
two-thirds courses ; this record, of course, included the freshman 
work for which I earned credit by making the sophomore courses. 

During my first year I caught the University enthusiasm, and, 
being eager to continue work while my energies were all alive, 
I decided to return to Austin for another year. My work con- 
tinued with increasing success. Feeling that not quite so many 



52 The University of Texas Bulletin 

courses were a-i stake as there were in my freshman year, I be- 
gan to take more interest in student activities, and, therefore, 
to make more friends. This second year I became a member of 
the Sidney Lanier Literary Society and of the Violin Club. At 
the end of the year I had added five and two-thirds credits 
towards my degree. There were then left only three and two- 
thirds to be made. After conferring with my friends and weigh- 
ing all considerations, I decided that it was best to finish the 
work the following year. I secured a summer school in West 
Texas, which lasted three months and paid me one hundred and 
fifty dollars for the summer. After school hours I tutored a 
young man for entrance to the University, earning thereby 
enough to pay board. 

Of my last year at the University I hardly know what not to 
say, for it was rich in experiences for me. I was now at a point 
where I could enjoy the language courses without being pain- 
fully conscious of noun and verb endings. Thus I was prepared 
to get the greatest benefit from the work. My courses being com- 
paratively light, I taught two hours a day in the University 
Preparatory School, and tutored four young men through high 
school Latin, from the first year book through four books of 
Virgil. And yet there was time for recreation. That year 
brought to Austin several treats in music which it was my for- 
tune to enjoy. I do not name them in order, but there were 
Madame Butterfly, Schumann-Heink, and Kubelik at the opera 
house, and in the University auditorium Bispham, Sembrich, and 
the Damrosch Orchestra. The Sidney Lanier Society and the 
Violin Club, too, were sources of pleasure, and Miss Blodgett 
was there with her series of wonderful talks. Another privilege 
that was mine during the year was that of living in Mrs. Kirby's 
home; only one who has been under the close influence of her 
great gentle spirit can know what a blessing the experience meant 
to me. 

I can not pass from the influences in University life without a 
word about the Young Women's Christian Association. On my 
way to Austin for the first time, Miss Bailey, who was on the 
train, asked me whether I intended joining the Young Women's 
Christian Association. I answered, "I may if T have time," 
for the Association was merely a name to me. But I joined it 
the first week, and afterwards served on committees and in the 



Experiences of Self-Supporting Students 53 

cabinet. To one who has watched this body of young women 
among the students, the Y. "W. C. A. stands for. an endeavor to 
hold the girls of the University close to the things most worth 
while, — scholarship, to be sure, but in addition, wholesome re- 
creation, systematic management of time and money, friendships 
welded by usefulness, and love of the good and its author. And 
the Association, to a wonderful degree, is successful in its en- 
deavor. 

Such, then, are the main facts about my University life; as a 
result of good preparation and systematic studying, based on the 
careful instruction received, my report cards made a good show- 
ing, and I was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. I was offered a fel- 
lowship for the following year, but as the friends who were lend- 
ing me the money had children whose education would soon 
begin, I decided to commence teaching immediately. Through 
recommendation of my instructors I was fortunate enough to 
secure a position in one of the State's largest high schools. In 
this school I have taught three years and have been elected for 
still another term. 

And now for the dollars and cents ! From time to time, as 
the amount of money borrowed began to creep into the hundreds, 
I became fearful and doubtful whether I had followed the best 
plan. I could see that the investment was safe, its economic 
basis being increased earning capacity, but, naturally, the ques- 
tion would come to mind, "What if something should happen to 
me?" I see now what would have saved me much anxiety; I 
should have borrowed money enough in advance to keep a life 
insurance policy paid up, to cover an amount at least as great 
as I should at the widest calculation be likely to need. As I had 
not followed that plan before, I invested part of my first month 's 
salary in such an insurance policy. From my present viewpoint 
I consider my years in the University a success financially. I 
reckon from observation that a liberal average salary for me, 
if I had not attended the University, would be $65 per month 
for nine months. For seven years, including 1911-12, at the 
rate of $65, the amount of money earned would be $4095. My 
salary since leaving the University runs as follows : $900, $945, 
$1200, $1300 per year (including 1911-12) ; total, $4345. Thus, 
by the end of next year, I shall be $240 "to the good." If one 



54 The University of Texas Bulletin 

thinks this not a fair method, that it is "counting chickens," 
let him consider results at the end of this year. At the $65 
rate, amount earned is $3510; what has actually been earned, 
$3045; $465 behind. But it seems to me even a stronger argu- 
ment to show that in one year there can be made a difference 
of $465 plus $240. So much, then, for a comparison of earn- 
ing capacity; it means that three years at the University have 
fitted me to earn in four years $240 more than I could have 
earned in seven years with my former earning capacity. This 
is very untechnical, for I have never made a study of economics, 
but my point, I trust, is clear. Stated from another viewpoint, 
I have calculated that I could not have saved in four year's 
teaching enough money to carry me through three years of Uni- 
versity. All this, moreover, does not take into consideration 
the risk of getting tied down to teaching, getting into a rut, and, 
therefore, never going to the University at all. 

I can not state what amount was spent by me for school pur- 
poses only; for my expenses ran at least eleven months a year, 
and there were outside calls to which I felt compelled to re- 
spond. The total amount borrowed was $860, — more than one 
might expect, except for the considerations stated. For the same 
reason not all of this amount has been repaid, but the last pay- 
ment will be made before the close of the next school year. 

Eight hundred and sixty dollars seems a formidible sum to a 
young woman, and yet there is no great risk on either side, pro- 
vided the borrower can offer as security a sound constitution, a 
healthy brain, a lively ambition, and enough self-pride to make 
her wish not to disappoint her family and her friends who have 
invested in her. If some economist shall argue me out of my 
position that I am a financial success, I shall offer this fact as 
a parting argument: I am pleased, who borrowed the money, 
and have now more friends and a greater capacity to enjoy and 
to help; my friends are pleased, who loaned me the money and 
have taken an interest and delight in my success as student and 
teacher; therefore, the parties of both parts, being pleased, are 
willing to remain undeceived as regards this particular business 
transaction. 

But, seriously, I shall be more pleased if, after reading my ex- 
perience, some girl may take heart to follow out her ambition, 
or some one with money will seize the nearest opportunity to 



Experiences of 8 elf -Supporting Students 55 

give such an ambition a fair chance, not as a matter of charity, 
dut as a business investment with some returns, — of money, if you 
wish, but mose surely of gratification at having helped some one 
in a healthy, practical way. There is far more risk financially 
in many a deal in futures transacted every day in our cities. 



THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS BULLETIN. 

(Continued from inside front cover) 

7. Railroad Transportation in Texas, by C. S. Potts. 214 p., 6 maps, charts. 

March, 1909. $1.50. 

8. Crime and the Treatment of the Criminal, by C. S. Potts. 86 p. May 1, 

1910. 25 cents. 

10. Problems of Prison Reform, by C. S. Potts. 40 p. December 8, 1910. 20 

cents. 

11. Recognition of the Republic of Texas by the United States, by Ethel Zivley 
/ Rather. 101 p. January 1, 1911. 75 cents. 

12. English Elements w Jonson's Early Comedy, by Charles Read Basker- 

vill, 328 p. April 8, 1911. $2.50. 

Medical Sebies 

1. Yellow Fever: a Popular Lecture, by James Carroll. 32 p. June, 1905. 

15 cents. 

2. The Care of the Insane, by Dr. M. L. Graves. 16 p. 1905. 15 cents. 

3. The 1903 Epidemic of Yellow Fever in Texas and the Lessons to Bt 

Learned from It, by Dr. G. R. Tabor. 22 p. June, 1905. 15 cents. 

4. Further Experiments in the Use of Drugs as Stimulants in Accident! 

Occurring During Anaesthesia, by O. H. Plant, 31 p. February 8, 1911. 
25 cents. 

Scientific Sebies 

-6. Vegetation of the Sotol Country in Texas, by W. L. B*ray. 24 p., pi. June, 

1905. 25 cents. 
7. Observations on the Habits of Some Solitary Wasps of Texas, by Carl 

Hartman. 72 p., pi. July, 1905. 25 cents. 

10. Distribution and Adaptation of the Vegetation of Texas, by W. L. Bray, 

108 p., pi. map. November, 1906. 35 cents. 

11. A Sketch of the Geology of the Chisos Country, by J. A. Udden. 101 p. 

April, 1907. 50 cents. 

12. The Clays of Texas, by Heinrich Ries, 316 p., illus. pi. 1908. $2.00. 

13. The American Mistletoe, by H. H. York. 31 p., pi. 1909. 50 cents. 
*~14. Symptoms of Disease in Plants, by F. D. Heald. Illus. November, 1909. 

$1.00. 

15. Field Studies of the Behavior of the Lizard Sceloporus Floridanus, by H. 

H. Newman and J. Thomas Patterson. 23 p., illus. December, 1909. 
25 cents. 

16. The Austin 1 Dam, by T. U. Taylor, 85 p., illus. December 22, 1911. 75 

cents. 

17. On the Electrostatic Effect of a Changing Magnetic Field, by J. M. Kuehne. 

15 p. January 15, 1911. 25 c€S.ts. 

18. Fauna of the Buda Limestone, by Francis Luther Whitney. 54 p., illus. 

May 22, 1911. $1.00. 

To those who desire it a complete list of the publications of the University 
of Texas will be furnished. Requests for this or for Bulletins should be 
addressed to the University of Texas Bulletin, Austin, Texas. Exchanges 
should be addressed to the University of Texas Library. 



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